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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28727811">Death Walking Through The Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfDoctor/pseuds/BadWolfDoctor'>BadWolfDoctor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians &amp; Related Fandoms - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Daddy Issues, Fluff and Angst, Heartache, Platonic Relationships</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:01:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,429</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28727811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfDoctor/pseuds/BadWolfDoctor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>‘Humans’, They are frail creatures. A surging calamity, a virus, physical harm, and ‘Love’ can kill them. They are weak beings with only a short amount of time to live compared to the gods who are immortal and could not die, because of this, Hestia has come to love these frail creatures in her lifetime although not the type of 'love' that she was expecting from one young man.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Aphrodite &amp; Hestia (Percy Jackson), Bianca di Angelo &amp; Nico di Angelo, Hades &amp; Hestia (Percy Jackson), Hestia &amp; Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo &amp; Clarisse La Rue, Nico di Angelo &amp; Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo/Hestia</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. WARMTH</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! So this won't be Percy/Annabeth focused so feel free to leave if you don't like it. For the Nico/Hestia shippers out there, read on if you want!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    ‘Humans’ They are frail creatures. A surging calamity, a virus, physical harm and ‘Love’ can kill them. They are weak beings with only a short amount of time to live compared to the gods who are immortal and could not die, because of this, Hestia has come to love these frail creatures in her lifetime. Although they were fragile, she held them delicately and thought </p><p>       “These humans are better creatures than the gods up in Mount Olympus.” Hestia told herself, “At least these beautiful creatures grow themselves to be stronger individuals and love one another out of human desires and pure will.”</p><p>  This was yet another day for Hestia to tend the flames at the bonfire in Camp Half-Blood where everybody gathered for a family bonding time but as Hestia tended the flames. Nobody seems to see her and pay attention to her existence because they just kept doing the things demigods usually do but one boy did catch Hestia’s eye. </p><p>This newcomer named Nico di Angelo, A son of Hades and a 10-year-old joyful little boy. He visited Hestia day after day and today as well because Hestia could sense Nico walking towards the bonfire with every step of his, the dried leaves underneath were being composed into a beautiful melody for Hestia’s heart that was suddenly enveloped in an unknown warmth. Finally, Nico reached the bonfire and greeted her.</p><p>      “Good morning Lady Hestia!” Nico greeted her with a toothy grin, “U-um, Don’t worry! I didn’t forget to brush my teeth this morning.” Nico told her while blushing “See?”</p><p>Nico let Hestia take a look and she’s got to admit, his breath did smell like mint leaves after a summer rain. </p><p>“Well done Nico di Angelo.” Hestia told him in a calm and gentle way “I am sure your parents will be very delighted about your achievement.” </p><p>“Hehehe! See!” Nico continued to show Hestia funny faces and they laughed together.</p><p>“Oh! I got a new Mytho-Magic card today and you’re the one in it!” Nico told Hestia while rummaging through his collection.</p><p>“Me?” Hestia asked, seemingly amused by the cards.</p><p>“Yup! Ta-dah!” Nico pulled out a Mytho-Magic card of Hestia and showed it to her “Open it!” </p><p>“Calm down boy” Hestia giggled </p><p> And as she peeled the paper off her card, she almost disgraced herself by laughing like a mad woman because of a thing that she was seeing right in front of her.</p><p>“Oh my Nico, What have you given me?” Hestia muttered. Slightly losing the patience to cry and laugh</p><p>“It’s you! Look. It has blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin.....” Nico barely managed to utter those last words. “Oh... They’re the opposite....”</p><p> Hestia saw Nico’s face becoming gloomy so she was struck with guilt.</p><p>“No no, my boy. This is a wonderful card. It may not look like me but I will treasure this forever” Hestia assured Nico with a smile “And look, I have +50 defense skills. How magnificent is that?” </p><p>“Really?!” Nico looked at her</p><p>“Yes. Now tell me more about this Mytho-magic” Hestia said with a smile.</p><p>They both giggled and talked about Mytho-Magic Cards and it felt like the night was becoming shorter to Hestia when they were suddenly interrupted by Chiron, their centaur leader at camp.</p><p>“Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades! Dinner is soon, please assemble at the dining hall!” </p><p>“Coming!” Nico shouted back, “I’ll come back tomorrow. Bye Lady Hestia!”</p><p> Nico ran towards Chiron but stopped and started going towards Hestia again. This made Hestia confused and amused at the same time for some reason but then suddenly, two arms embraced her in a tight hug and said “Bye” as gentle as the morning breeze.</p><p>“Goodbye Nico di Angelo” Hestia replied in a gentle manner and waved to Nico until he was out of sight. </p><p>A few moments after he left, Hestia continued tending the flames when she couldn’t get a thought out of her head. What was the feeling of warmth that she couldn’t get outside of her system? Was it the flames or Nico’s tight embrace? Hestia continued to ponder about these thoughts.</p><p>   She thought she knew everything because she was immortal and she has lived long enough to know about the natures of life but there was one thing Hestia didn’t quite comprehend. It was the fact that something about this boy gave her warmth that was different from her flames. Something she’s never felt before........ What was it? She wondered deeply in the silent night with nothing but her cackling flames to keep the chilly night alive.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. CHILL</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hestia feels a new longing in her heart as it slowly consumes her soul.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“He never came back.” That was all Hestia could mutter to herself in the dark and silent night with nothing but her flames to keep her company. </p><p>   She sat there in silence until she heard a bullhorn sound booming across the night sky, “Oh, the dinner signal” Hestia remembered as she continued to watch over her flames. A few minutes later, she heard a peculiar sound.</p><p>      “Go find Nico” A voice suddenly whispered to her.</p><p>When Hestia heard this, she suddenly turned around and saw nobody at the campfire near her so who was it? This situation enveloped her body with chills. Who was the one whispering to her? Was it her grandmother Gaea waking up from her slumber and attempting to crush Mount Olympus again? Or was it another monster trying to attack Camp Half-Blood? Hestia continued to ponder about the different types of possibilities that could cause harm to the world when a hand suddenly patted her gently on the shoulder causing her thoughts to waver and direct her attention to the person who wanted it. </p><p>      “Percy Jackson” Hestia whispered in amazement, “You can feel my presence?” Hestia asked because normally, she was only visible to people who knew her and believed in her.</p><p>     “Yeah. I see you all the time with......Nico.” Percy managed to mutter Nico’s name which made Hestia’s eyes flicker with delight but why was his face so sad and full of guilt?</p><p>     “Sit” Hestia told Percy in a soothing manner as she patted the space beside her. Percy was hesitant at first but decided to just sit down next to the goddess.</p><p>    “What is wrong my child?”</p><p>    “It’s umm..... it’s about Nico” Percy replied while slowly looking at the goddess’ worried eyes, “He got mad at me and ran away.” </p><p>This statement caused Hestia to form a lump in her throat and asked herself ‘Why?’</p><p>   “Can you think of a reason why he would do that?” Hestia asked him, obviously knowing that Percy was trying his best to hold back his tears.</p><p>    “I let a special person of his.....disappear...” Percy said the word ‘disappear’ because he felt like the word ‘die’ sounded a lot more painful than what he could endure and Percy has endured A LOT of dangerous situations. Percy just remained silent after saying this and neither one of them spoke. Hestia just continued tending her flames but Percy didn’t dislike Hestia’s reaction, in fact, he appreciated it. He liked the fact that Hestia didn’t give him the talk of sympathy or looked at him with her eyes full of pity, she just stayed, well, silent and for some reason, the brooding silence comforted him. They stayed silent for about 5 mins. when  Percy suddenly felt a pain in his heart like Zeus struck him with his lightning and water started dripping on the floor. </p><p>“Ugh. Great. It’s raining now? Seriously?” Percy groaned but when he turned to Hestia, she just smiled and told him “I don’t know Perseus. Is it?”</p><p>Percy was confused at first but he suddenly understood what was going on and he chuckled “Ha-ha-ha, I’m horrible aren’t I?” Percy struggled to say in between his sobs, “Why do I always have to ruin everyone’s—“</p><p>    “Perseus Jackson” Hestia called out and scooted closer to Percy, “May I?” She spread her arms which confused Percy but he finally knew what was going to happen and strangely, he didn’t dislike it.</p><p>“Uhhh..... You can.” Percy said with a slight nod.</p><p>        Hestia slowly wrapped her arms around Percy and stroked his hair. Percy slightly blushed because he wasn’t used to receiving hugs except for that one time when he was with Annabeth but that was different. Hestia’s hug made him feel like he was safe and comforted. ‘Just like the hearth’ Percy thought while letting his self be embraced by a goddess but what he didn’t know was that the goddess was also lost in her thoughts as she told herself ‘Maybe this kind gesture could also comfort this troubled child just like how Nico did this magic for me...’.</p><p>   They continued doing this for 2 mins. when they were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the campers approaching in their direction and Percy didn’t want to be the weird kid who hugged an invisible entity so he was the one who let go first.</p><p>     “Um... Lady Hestia— If I may be so rude. I’m sorry but I have to go.” Percy told the goddess in an apologetic manner because he doesn’t know if this will anger the goddess and fill his bed full of snakes when he wakes up. (Geez. Way to go Hera) </p><p>    “Oh— How rude of me?” Hestia pulled back and patted Percy on his shoulder, “Good luck Perseus Jackson. I will give you my blessing on your journey.” </p><p>Hestia told him and bowed gracefully.</p><p>This made Percy feel soft and returned the bow to the goddess before him “I appreciate the sentiment. Lady Hestia. Let us meet again.” Percy declared to the goddess and started to walk away slowly but confidently. Hestia turned her attention back to the bonfire when she heard the laughter of Perseus with his friends.</p><p>         “It’s funny how humans could hide their true emotions from others.” Hestia muttered, “But I guess, we immortals are no different from them too.”</p><p> She felt the lump in her throat starting to form again. ‘Where are you?’ She silently mumbled and felt water trickling down her cheeks. </p><p>“How intriguing,” Hestia said as she wiped the water from her face but then her cheeks won’t seem to dry.</p><p> Water just kept trickling down like there was no tomorrow. “I think I may have an eye problem...” she chuckled while continuing to wipe her face with her sleeves,</p><p> “But why does it hurt more here?” Hestia clutched the part where her heart thumped.</p><p> “I don’t understand.” Hestia finally uttered when her silent sobs turned to cries that were drowned by the peals of laughter of the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes! I am posting all 5 chapters in one day 😂 I already did these but it was just sitting in my notes and I wanted to post it already so yeah.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. MEMORIES</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A young man comes back but is he still the same man that she once remembered him to be?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It has been 5 months since Nico left the camp but Hestia felt like 5 years passed by. She wondered why she felt this way because, for an immortal like her, 5 years were supposed to be fast. It's normal when you were immortal, it was hard to keep track of time. Like this one time where she made a promise to a demigod and completely forgot about it for 5 mins so when she went to the said-demigod to fulfill her promise, he was already killed by a chimera. </p><p>This shocked Hestia because not only did 5 mins pass but 5 long years. This made her heart filled with grief and guilt that she didn’t even talk to anyone for a decade so the other gods decided to leave her alone and give her some space, but now? Time was slower than a snail and she was determined to find the answer as to why time was sluggish for her. </p><p>“Maybe dad decided to slow time because seeing as he’s the titan of time, he could do that but that’s not possible, My little brother Zeus already took care of his body and threw it in Tartarus, so why?”</p><p>As she was constantly thinking of the reason, she was suddenly interrupted by the beating of her heart. It was beating faster than a race car going 500 km per hour.</p><p>        “What’s going on?” Hestia thought to herself but then at that moment, she felt a familiar presence. </p><p>        “It can’t be....” Hestia thought and averted her gaze away from the bonfire and as she was trying to determine the shape of the person walking to her, she knew who he was and her eyes widened in shock. She continued to stare at the young man until he was a few steps away from her position.</p><p>      “Nico di Angelo” Hestia whispered</p><p>And the lad stopped right in front of her.</p><p>       “Hey. Long time no see” Nico greeted the lady with his eyes not meeting hers.</p><p>      “Long time no see indeed, Nico di Angelo.“ Hestia greeted him with a smile while slightly bowing her head</p><p>        “Why don’t you take a sit?” Hestia asked him as she patted the space next to her.</p><p>       “Uh... Sure. Thanks” Nico sat across from her with only the bonfire keeping them apart.</p><p> This action caught Hestia by surprise because he didn’t sit far away from Hestia which made Hestia think that the Nico in front of her wasn’t like the Nico she remembered. It was like he was a completely different person. </p><p>He felt ‘distant’ from her.</p><p>       “Would you care to tell me where you’ve been all this time Nico?” Hestia asked him reassuringly so that she won’t freak him out with the sudden question but Nico didn’t respond so she asked another one that she thought would be more comfortable with him,</p><p>        “How are you hanging on to life?” She asked again with a smile but still, no answer. Hestia was getting worried at this point so she decided to ask another non-burning question,</p><p>        “Did you——“ </p><p>        “I have to go to bed. I’m sorry. I—just wanted to greet you.”  Nico interrupted as he suddenly stood up and started to leave.</p><p> ‘What happened to him?’ Hestia asked herself but she knew asking herself that question wouldn’t give her the answer, she had to ask Nico but she was afraid to break him while he was still so fragile and delicate with all the emotions swirling inside him. She knew these emotions because she sensed them. It was a god thing. They could sense if a person was distressed or happy. </p><p>When she saw Nico arriving at camp, she suddenly knew something was wrong. It was like Nico bottling up all his feelings in a single cup until one day, it shatters and Hestia was afraid to be the one to break it. </p><p>“I’m such a coward and I hate it.” Hestia whispered to herself and watched solemnly as Nico’s back continued to walk away, his back turned away from her. </p><p>Hestia couldn't help but think that the gap between them was becoming wider than before.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Damn. Nico </p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. SLEEP TIGHT</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nico sleeps in the darkness of the night with nothing but his thoughts.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico didn’t know if he hurt Hestia’s feelings as he was scurrying away from the bonfire but he was sure of one thing. </p><p>       “I don’t want to stay there.” Nico thought to himself.</p><p>It wasn’t because he hated Hestia. It was because Hestia had this assuring aura around her that would let you blurt out your feelings and he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to let ‘anyone’ know how much in pain he really was inside so he shoved the goddess away from his heart and put a protective barrier around it. </p><p>As Nico was walking toward his cabin, he abruptly stopped in his tracks and cursed in Greek.</p><p>      “How could I forget? Of course there’s no cabin for people like me here.” Nico reminded himself, “They think Hades is an outcast.” </p><p>Nico then remembered and groaned at the fact that he walked away from a warm fire and got himself into a situation wherein he didn’t know where he could sleep without getting chills all over his body.</p><p>      “Nico” someone whispered with shock in his voice and Nico wondered who was awake at this time of the night so he turned around.</p><p>     “Percy Jackson” Nico uttered his name filled with resentment.</p><p>Nico turned away from Percy and started to walk away again because getting involved with him would only make him feel angry and he didn’t want to feel that. Not tonight at least, because he was extremely exhausted.</p><p>    “Nico, wait—-“ Percy said desperately as he tried to grab on to Nico’s shoulder but Nico swiftly moved to the right which left Percy in shock.</p><p>    “Really Percy? You’re giving me those eyes?” Nico told him, “You know, you look really pathetic right now, right?” </p><p>Nico turned his back to continue on his way but Percy said something unexpected.</p><p>     “Where are you going to sleep?” Percy said, his voice now with a little more confidence, “You know they don’t have a Hades Cabin. You’re going to freeze outside.”</p><p>      “Why do you care?” Nico scoffed.</p><p>     “Because—“ </p><p>     “Don’t.” Nico said menacingly, “If you start pulling the pity card on me. I’ll make the ground swallow you whole.”</p><p>Nico glared at Percy one last time and shadow traveled to a bench, 1 km away from the Poseidon Cabin.</p><p>    “This could work.” Nico said as he uncomfortably started to get into different types of sleep positions.</p><p>After 30 minutes of endless experiments, Nico finally found a good position with his 2 legs bent to match the size of the bench and his head resting on the hard wooden plank.</p><p>All of a sudden, he thought, “Huh... This isn’t so bad”  but then the universe pulled a reverse card on him and a chilly breeze suddenly washed over his whole body. He got goosebumps.</p><p>      “Ok. I take that back.” Nico sighed</p><p>But he had no choice and just decided to endure it. After countless shivers and a lot of bathroom breaks. He finally had time to sleep and listen to the crickets chirping, the owls hooting and a lot more nature stuffs. </p><p>For the first time in a very long time, He fell asleep easily and succumbed to the soft and comforting sounds of the night. </p><p>Morning came and when he opened his eyes, he felt the light of the sun blaring in his eyes. </p><p>He groaned and was about to curse the sun god when he unexpectedly felt something......soft.</p><p>       “What the—“ Nico uttered in disbelief as he felt a soft, red blanket covering him.</p><p>       “Who?” Nico asked, still shocked in amazement</p><p>He quickly looked around to see the person behind this act.</p><p>      “Ugh. Who am I kidding?” Nico said in a baffled manner, “Of course the person placed this blanket over me last night”</p><p>Nico slapped himself in the forehead and decided to get up from his bench as he groggily got up from his slumber.</p><p>A sudden bull horn boomed across the morning sky.</p><p>Nico knew what this sound meant and he wasn’t excited about it because it meant that he would have to talk to human beings again.</p><p>“Oh, Yey. Breakfast” Nico said with clearly no enthusiasm and walked to the dining hall.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was a pretty light and short one. Hope you enjoyed it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. RUCKUS</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The bully comes into view. I wonder what will happen to Nico?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nico didn’t feel like talking with humans again after he spent 5 months in the underworld but he needed to do something that was essential for his survival. And that was ‘to eat’.</p><p>Yep. He didn’t eat for at least 5 days now and he was starting to question his sanity but nevertheless, he kept walking towards the dining hall where all demigods gather to eat their meals and blabber on and on about their daily lives which was a huge pet peeve for him.</p><p>         “Yo, Death Kid! Long time no see!” A voice shouted from behind him. </p><p>He looked around to see who called him ‘Death Kid’ because he didn’t like that name but when he turned his head, he saw a well-built girl that had to be around 182 cm tall. </p><p>Her name was Clarrise La Rue, the only daughter of Ares, God Of War, and the camp’s MAJOR BULLY.</p><p>Were they friends? No.</p><p>         “Don’t call me that.” Nico demanded as he took his food tray and started to head towards an empty table.</p><p>         “Ugh. Finally. Some peace at—-“ Nico abruptly stopped because of Clarisse blocking his way.</p><p>         “Hey. Don’t turn your back on me when I’m talking Turd.” Clarisse told him as she glared at him from above.</p><p>Now Nico was in big trouble. Why? Because Clarisse was a lot taller and had larger muscles than him so he wasn’t sure how to defeat this humungous woman but he decided to defeat her with his words.</p><p>         “Oh sorry. It was hard to hear you with all the bugs flying around.” Nico replied with his head looking down to stare at his food tray and display his fake humility.</p><p>          “Oh. Was it? Ok then” Clarisse scoffed, “WELL HOW ABOUT NOW?!?!” Clarisse bellowed and it made the whole camp go silent while Nico’s ears were ringing but he nonchalantly played it off like it never bothered him.</p><p>          “Now that’s better isn’t it?” Nico picked his ears, “So what’s your problem?” He asked.</p><p>        “Nothing. You just reek of corpses. Am I right buddied?!” Clarisse shouted </p><p>        “Yeah!!” The other campers cheered and started to laugh at him. This pissed him off and it wasn’t because Clarisse told him that he smelled like corpses but because of the fact that irrelevant people were intruding in their conversation when they weren’t even supposed to.</p><p>         “Was that supposed to be a joke?” Nico asked her menacingly but another voice answered from the back of the dining hall, </p><p>“It was a joke, corpse-head!” The campers continued to laugh louder, “What? Did your humor also die in the Underworld?” </p><p>The campers were all snickering, trying to hold back their laughter.</p><p>Nico turned around to see who shouted that lame insult so he could send an army of skeletons in the night and order them to rip him apart in his sleep.</p><p>       “Ohh. That was supposed to be a joke? Yeah, it was funny.” Nico blankly told Clarisse.</p><p>This arrogance pissed Clarisse off. NOBODY embarrassed her in front of a crowd and she wanted to beat up the jerk who was standing before her.</p><p> Nico was now making eye contact with her as he continued to say, “Now can you just get out of my way? My stomach’s  hungry and I haven’t eaten for days.” </p><p>Nico asked while patting his stomach but Nico didn’t want to wait for Clarisse’s approval because he didn’t really care and just wanted to get some peace and quiet so he intentionally bumped his shoulder onto Clarisse’s body and proceeded to isolate himself on the dining table but as soon as he thought it was done, Clarisse wasn’t going to let this one slide so she yanked him by the shirt with such immense force that he dropped his food tray on the ground.</p><p>           “Great. There goes breakfast” he thought</p><p>           “Let this be a lesson for you. Death shuck” Clarisse whispered before shoving him aggressively all the way to the other side of the building.</p><p>             “OooOoHhhhH. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” The other campers cheered and started to vote for Clarisse to win because she was stronger than him but Nico didn’t care because he was now writhing in agony when Clarisse flung him into the air and his body got smashed onto 5-6 tables. </p><p>         “Ouch. That hurt.” Nico complained while trying to get back on his feet but then his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. </p><p>That’s when he noticed something was terribly wrong. He looked down on his body and noticed something gruesome. </p><p>This sudden realization sent a sharp sensation of unbearable pain in Nico’s body and it made him want to throw up.</p><p>            “F**k. She broke my legs.” Nico thought while sweating to hold on to his consciousness.</p><p> He couldn’t pass out now but a part of him wanted to because his body hurt like hell and when he meant “Hell”, he meant “Tartarus”.</p><p>       “What are you doing?! you as*h*le?!” Nico shouted and glared at Clarisse for doing that but Clarisse just smirked.</p><p>       “Teaching you a valuable lesson!!” Clarisse shouted as she was furiously running to Nico and pulling him up again by grabbing the collar of his shirt. </p><p>       “Next time. NEVER. act cocky in front of an Ares’ child” Clarisse whispered and punched Nico at the face with so much force that the campers heard a crack.</p><p>          “Aww... Did I crack your nose?” Clarisse mocked, “Gonna cry to daddy?” The other campers laughed at the teasing except for one person, </p><p>           “This isn’t nice Clarisse. I think you should—-“ </p><p>           “Oh please, Serena. You like this corpse now?” Clarisse said mockingly which caused a few more giggles from the other.</p><p>           “W-what? No! Don’t you see he’s hurt?!” Serena replied.</p><p>           “Whatever. Just get him some ambrosia and he’ll be fine.” Clarisse joyfully said as she raised her fists again and continued to place multiple bruises on Nico’s face.</p><p>Nico didn’t quite hear the conversation happening just now because his focus was starting to waver and he started to lose his consciousness. He wanted to fight back and Clarisse also wanted him to fight back but he couldn’t. Not in the state he was in now. He was just in too much emotional pain to deal with these kinds of stuff right now.</p><p>         “I won't fight back. I deserve to die anyway.” he quietly whispered as he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away and then, it was all black.<br/>He opened his eyes slowly as the bright glaring light worked its way into his retina, slowly adjusting his eyes to the brightness. Where was he?  </p><p>He tried to regain his clear vision back and just as it came back, he softly gasped, he wasn't on Earth, he could feel it and the white horizon in front of him right now seemed to stretch on for forever. </p><p>         “Hello?!” Nico shouted. </p><p>         No response.</p><p>He shouted again but louder, “Hello?!?”</p><p>        Again. There was no response. </p><p>        “Where the heck am I?” Nico muttered</p><p>        “You’re in limbo.” A husky voice said from behind.</p><p>Nico almost squealed like a squirrel when he flinched at the voice but good thing he was able to keep it in. </p><p>He started to break away from his thoughts and find out who sent him into this so-called Limbo but when he turned around, He immediately regretted it.</p><p> He saw a man with a slender figure and was obviously taller than him and he looked like he was around 192 cm but that’s not all. When you see his face, he had a structured jawline, piercing dead eyes, and slick black hair.</p><p>         “Hades.” Nico whispered.</p><p>         “'Father' you mean? And lose those eyes. They creep me out. It reminds me of me.” Hades said as he waved his hand but Nico wasn’t in the mood for jokes.</p><p>         “What do you want?” Nico asked so that they can get this over with because the longer he was with his dad, the more anger he felt.</p><p>          “What do I want? You must be mistaken here kiddo. I’m not the one who needs anything. You do.” Hades said as he took a step closer to Nico.</p><p>           “You know you want to have the power to defeat that puny daughter of Ares.” Hades smirked and it was true. Nico did want to beat Clarisse up so bad if he only had the strength to do it but he knew he wasn’t getting it for free.</p><p>           “What’s the price?” Nico asked with his guard up.</p><p>           “Oh please. Can you stop thinking I’m a bad father?” Hades complained while placing his hands on Nico’s shoulders. “It’s free, kid.” </p><p>Nico shoved his father’s hands away and scoffed. “Nothing is for free when it comes to you.”</p><p>This made Hades pissed and thought of an interesting idea. </p><p>            “I know. Break that Ares child’s bones and I may consider bringing Bianca back. Sounds good?” Hades said excitedly.<br/>             “Sure.” Nico suddenly agreed as stupid as that sounded but he was going to do everything in his power to bring his older sister back. No matter what it takes but there was one question he had in mind and he wasn't about to leave without asking, “How will you bring sister ba—-“</p><p>             “Ok son! Off you go!”</p><p>             “Wait!!”</p><p>Hades snapped his fingers and Nico was back in the hall with the multiple bruises he had all over his face and body and the pain was starting to rush through his brain again. </p><p>Nico winced just in time to see Clarisse getting ready for another strike.</p><p> “Break the Ares Child’s bones.” Nico remembered his father’s words. </p><p>Nico dodged Clarisse’s attacks with such speed that the other campers including Clarisse were baffled as to how he got faster and Nico found this as a good opening so, at the last second, he struck Clarisse’s face with a forceful punch that she went stumbling onto the floor trying to regain her balance and composure.</p><p>           “The hell?” Clarisse muttered while seeing her blood fall onto her palms and her head started to feel light.</p><p>            “Clarisse. Y-your face.” Another camper uttered in terror. </p><p>            “What?” Clarisse asked but when she saw it, her heart completely dropped. Her nose was bleeding as it was already detached from her face with only the strings keeping them together so they won’t fall which resulted in them dangling like puppets.</p><p> Clarisse was enveloped with intense pain but she thought “This isn’t something I can’t handle. The military camp was worse” So Clarisse ran towards Nico again, hopefully thinking that she would hit the death kid on the face and make him scream for his mommy but she was dreadfully wrong. </p><p>As Clarisse was charging with her battle cry, she tried to find an opening and thought “Huh. What a loser” </p><p>She swung her fist towards Nico but then Nico disappeared and reappeared behind her. Almost like teleportation.</p><p>            “I shadow travel. B*tch” Nico muttered as he suddenly yanked her wrist and squeezed it with such immense force that you could hear her bones cracking slowly within the pressure.</p><p>        “AaaAaahHhhhH!!!!” Clarisse let out a blood-curdling scream and tried to strike back with her other hand but with no luck, Nico grabbed her other wrist and squeezed it harder than the other one, this left Clarrise to let out another blood-curdling scream that sent shivers down the campers’ spine.</p><p>         “Let go you f**ker!!!!!” Clarisse tried to say while kicking Nico from behind her but Nico didn’t care. He continued to slowly put in stronger pressure every passing second to the point that her wrists were now turning purple with the lack of blood circulation.</p><p>  “Why would I let go? You started it so... let’s finish it” Nico whispered in her ear with a cunning voice and at that moment, Clarisse knew she messed with the wrong person and she messed up BIG TIME. </p><p>While Clarisse was lost in her thoughts and was getting dizzy with each passing moment, Nico applied all the pressure he could muster in his hands which led to the campers including Clarisse to hear one final crack that resonated in the whole dining hall. </p><p>They went silent as they heard Clarisse’s wrists getting dislocated and were dangling in the air like a puppet with only the muscles holding them in place. Clarisse’s face was filled with terror as she screamed in agony while her body was writhing on the ground. </p><p>          “You psychopath!!!!” Clarisse screamed </p><p>          “I’m hurt. It was self-defense. Too bad you lost to a kid though” Nico sneered at the helpless demigod on the floor and as he looked around to see the reaction of the other campers, he saw petrified faces and they all looked like they wanted to run from the scene but they couldn’t move. </p><p>         “Whew. Well, that was a good stress-reliever” Nico happily said as he stood up from the ground. “Who wants to go next?” </p><p>His question sent shivers and tears from the campers present in the hall and maybe a few people who peed their pants in the process.</p><p>        “Let this be a valuable lesson.” Nico said as he pulled Clarisse’s face up to his who was now soaked in sweat.</p><p>        “Oh, my Olympus... I never knew this felt so cathartic.” Nico pondered with amazement as he saw the campers waking up from their trance and was now causing a ruckus in the dining hall. </p><p>They were all pushing each other aside as they struggled to get out of the building while leaving their poor Clarisse behind as she was still screaming in pain. </p><p>         “What have you done...” Percy asked behind him, standing with shock as he seemed to be the only one who wasn’t panicking.</p><p>Nico just smiled.</p><p> “Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yes. We love some dark Nico. I always felt like his dark side deserved to get more attention :3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please leave Kudos if you want me to continue my work. This is an ongoing project and leaving comments about the story about what you think about it and about the things that I need to improve on. Please leave it here! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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